Hans flew home for a family gathering in rememberance of his grandmother Mary Lou Stoops, who passed away last spring. It was a quick trip, just a week long, but it was nice to see family together and enjoy the Pacific Northwest during the late summer.
After landing in Tacoma, there was a jet-laggy trip to the Farmer's Market, featuring plenty of Yakima produce.
After spemding a few hours in Seattle the next day, Gretchen and her kids were picked up at SeaTac by this bicycle-reflector piece by Richard C Elliott of Ellensburg.
We took the Vashon ferry to celebrate Kadin's birthday by the...
...treed bicycle...
...and then took the Vashoff ferry to visit the new car museum, which features this Tucker among 3000 other cars in the collection.
As we headed east, Chinook Pass was foggy, but we stepped out of the car to explore anyway. (Awesomely, this photo was not posed.)
...Not to everyone's taste, but a favorite combo.
Grandpa Stoops.
Two generations, all striped for the gathering.
And even more of us. Worldwide Stoops.
It cleared up just enough for Diana (what? no picture of Diana? whoops.) and Hans to get a peek at Rainier heading westward on White Pass.
And Hans was treated to this view of Gothenburg flying home. Bangatan down to the right, the World's Largest Container Ship (no kidding) on its maiden voyage in port to the left.
In the fridge upon his arrival home were everything needed to make a half batch of Grandma Stoops's relish, recipe in hand.
Grandma's relish:
Finely dice:
2 medium cabbages
8 medium carrots
4 red peppers
4 green peppers
12 onions
Mix with 1/2 cup salt, let sit for two hours, and drain well.
Boil, cool, and add to vegetables:
6 cups vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
